Most of you have already heard, but a week ago Monday my wonderful grandma passed away. Of course, it's sad, and we'll all miss her terribly, but she had 96 years worth of adventuring. That's an age where we're all just grateful for a life well lived and that we had her as long as we did. I mean Calib almost made it to adulthood with his great-grandma. That's pretty cool! Tomorrow Peyton and I are heading to Ohio to help my mom with some things. We'll be joined by Asa, Calib and Hayden on Tuesday. The funeral is Wednesday and then we'll all be there until Saturday trying to soak in some fall events. Gigi would want us to have a little fun on our trip, no matter the circumstances. We're hoping to fit in some apple picking, pumpkins, and a trip to Halloweekends.
My mom spent the last two years being live-in care for my grandma. As a result, all of us had to sacrifice our time with her. Of course, we didn't mind. We were happy to make sure grandma was comfortable in her own home with mom taking care of her, but the boys are looking forward to my mom being able to come visit more frequently. The night after gigi died, the boys decided (all on their own) to make a presentation about why grandma should come to Florida as soon as possible. It included post cards and drawings of what she would be doing. Haydens drawing included grandma in the pool with a drink. Peyton made a postcard of Florida to show grandma all the perks. And Calib was the one that came up with the idea, so he said he didn't have to do any of the work.
I am trying something new with this whole traveling thing. We leave tomorrow morning and my bags are already packed and in the car. Yesterday we went to the store, cleaned the house, I caught up on my country blogs, we did the laundry and I packed everything I could. It was a LONG day, but now, today, I don't have anything to do but sit in the hammock (which is still inside- but is going back outside in the next couple days), and relax. I'm hoping it helps with stress levels. I don't even HAVE to write this blog, but we haven't done a whole lot the last couple weeks, so I figured it'd be quick.
Also, worth noting 10 days after we get back, Peyton, Calib and I are headed to San Diego- so being all caught up on stuff is probably a good idea.
So, on to it.
Asa did also pass another class for his Masters. That's four classes down, six to go. We decided for his Master's classes instead of rootbeer floats we'd go out to eat somewhere of Asa's choosing. We were still behind on the last class he passed, so we went out to Five Guys one day before going out to Busch Gardens a couple weeks ago. (Now we're only one class behind, he might collect while we're in Ohio).
Busch Gardens is nearly empty on weekdays this time of year. It's only open to 5 pm as a result, but it's totally worth it to have the park to yourselves like we did. There was plenty of prime viewing spots for the animals, and the day we visited they all seemed to be out and about and in perfect spots in their habitats.
Jungala is also lovely when it's so empty. You can climb through the ropes without any interruption.
Ride waits were like nothing too. Most everything was walk-on, so even if Hayden and I sat out a ride here or there, we hardly had to wait. We just walked to nearby Pokestops and back and everyone would be done. Oh, and we went the week the Bucs played the Patriots. We all went after some Patriots fans decked out in Tom Brady gear on the bumper cars, and it was as glorious as you'd imagine it to be.
We were about ready to head out, and I was like 'lets just walk over and see if it is kangaroo feeding time.' We almost never hit that at the right time, but feeding time had just started, and there was plenty of food to be had since there was hardly anyone there. It also meant the kangaroos were actually hungry for the food, so they happily came up to us and ate out of our hands.
Worth noting: there's still some signs of Irma around, even at Busch Gardens.
This Tuesday we decided to go out to Disney for what will probably be our last trip to the Food and Wine Festival this year. It's over on the 13th, and like I said, we're back just one of Asa's weekends before we're gone again.
But, we did use the fest to knock out some countries. We went to the Coastal Eats booth for Mauritius, Chocolate Eats for Sao Tome and Principe, Islands of the Caribbean for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Italy for Malta, and the Africa booth for Eritrea. Speaking of African countries, we still have the most African countries left, but only by 1 (We have 16 African countries left, and 15 Asian countries left). We're doing a meal tonight, but I'm giving myself a day off from the country.
We did also go to the new booth for Spain. I told the boys we might have this count for our Spain meal, and they freaked out on me. They told me I couldn't take a Spanish meal away from them, so we could go and get the food, but it was not allowed to count as the country meal.
We got the Charcuterie in a cone, which was good (but the pancetta on top wasn't great- ask them to skip that on yours in favor of more cheese, olives, and chorizo and I'd bet they'd do it. Also, the sweet olive oil cake with lemon curd was AMAZING. Peyton and I liked it the most (Calib was the only non-fan), but then we prefer things to be less-sweet. This cake really is not on the sweet side, and the lemon curd is what really makes it. I highly recommend.
After Epcot we headed out to Typhoon Lagoon. It was a bit of a cloudy day, which I think kept the crowds away. It was pretty empty and we got to enjoy no-waits on the waterslides, a nearly empty lazy river and our choice of any beach chairs we wanted.
After a couple hours at the water park, we thought about heading to Animal Kingdom, but the on and off sprinkles were becoming a little more frequent and a bit more steady. We decided instead to head over to Disney Springs to walk around and get a light dinner. We stopped and got Poutine at the Daily Poutine, and a crepe at Aristocrepes.
The weather is finally getting nice. By the evenings, you don't even sweat! Any Floridian knows how amazing that is this time of year, when we can't make it to the car without feeling sticky.
We've had a few football Sundays since I last blogged. We've mostly been doing weekly taco bars.
Occasionally on Sundays, Asa has been in the office, so I pack him a one-person taco bar to take with him.
But, I hate when he's there, because I just have Calib to watch football with. And one of the Sundays Asa was gone, Calib had stayed up really late and not slept well, and then he slept through all the one o'clock games on the couch next to me. (He swore he was awake for most of it- but I have photo evidence).
This past Sunday, the Bucs played the Cardinals and got blown out (despite a misleading score of a come back). There weren't enough nachos or drinks in the world to get through that one. But, at least Asa was here to commiserate with.
Other than that I just have a few odds and ends to share with you. We've mostly just been hanging out, because we know things are about to get much busier around here. There's been nights of Rock Band and snack buffets (I don't know, I just show up in the kitchen and shame them all. That's not a snack, that's a buffet!)
Hayden decided it was time to make a return of pillow pools. He came to me one day when I was working on stuff and asked where the baby pools were. I directed him outside, but told him they needed cleaned up if he was bringing them in. He did it all on his own. He used the hose, some lysol wipes and dried it all out.
Then he piled in all kinds of blankets and pillows. His brothers wanted in on it, and Hayden then cleaned up another pool made another one for them.
Plus a couple nights it's been so nice we've gotten to open the french doors, which is just my FAVORITE. I love when those can be open! I guess the weather is really going to cool down Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday here. Unfortunately, I won't be here to enjoy it. But, Tracy can take advantage while she's staying here with the pets.
Speaking of the pets, Ellie is a pillow pool fan. I'm not entirely sure we've ever had them while we've had her. She climbed in one all on her own one night, and now it's one of her favorite places to lay. She wasn't so sure when Porkchop climbed in with her.
Eventually she settled down, and didn't mind sharing her pillow pool. Phenom isn't a fan of the pools, but he did sit still (by Phenom standards) for a picture, which is kind of amazing.
In other pet news, one day I was outside and I found Delano on top of the cat food. Maybel was not pleased. I did move Delano for her after I took a picture, of course.
Oh, and Ellie is such an Asa's dog. He's been in the office so much, she's been extra needy as far as he's concerned.
Calib and Asa finally got the last tree stump out of the yard. I kept suggesting we pay someone to come out and get it, because it took days for them to get it out. But, they did it, and they were super proud of themselves. The backyard looks infinitely better than it did when we moved in. There's so much space back there.
We've been doing some school work, but mostly focusing on the countries. I've got a few theme weeks on tap for whenever life returns a bit more to normal.
Calib, of course has his Monday night class (which is why everyone else is coming to Ohio on Tuesday). I've been staying out while he's at class instead of driving all the way home, and then back out to get him (wouldn't it be nice if he got his license already?) I was productive with my time though. I've been taking my stuff to Panera while he's in class to work on the country blogs. I've also spent a lot of time at the bookstore. At least PHSC is right next to Wiregrass. There's plenty to do, and at Christmas time I'll even get to watch the light show.
Our library is now open on Mondays. I can't believe they got the funding to be open another day! They had a kickoff party this week for their first Monday open. Pasco county was out of school for a teacher planning day, so there were lots of kids there.
They had lots of events, but we went for the Pinellas County Reptiles, who came in for a presentation. There were lots of reptiles to pet, and Hayden took in all the fun information.
Calib came with us, since he needed a book. He sat in the back with me, and when she brought around the reptiles, he even pet a few. I think he enjoyed it more than his picture portrays.
Asa and I haven't had a date day in awhile, but we do get to go out for our Wednesday shopping trips and sometimes lunch. A couple of weeks ago Trader Joes got in the seasonal ginger beer, so we made a trip down there to get some. Peyton loves the stuff too, so Asa took a picture and sent it to Peyton, and Peyton flipped out. (Sidenote: this is all gone now. I think Asa and Hayden are going to get more after they drop us at the airport tomorrow morning.)
And, I leave with my favorite picture of Peyton as a little kid. A couple of days ago on the 'On this Day' on Facebook these pictures came up, and I was so excited (for real, it's my favorite!). This was before my blogging days, but one morning way back when we lived in Oakstead, I woke up to find a frog on the sliding glass door. Asa worked mornings, so he was gone. I didn't want to touch it, so I woke Peyton up (thus the reason he's in his underwear, he used to take his PJs off in the middle of the night), and told him I had an emergency and needed his help getting the frog back outside. He said, in his cute little-speech-therapy-needing voice 'No problem, mom. I just need a bucket, a lid, and a spatula.' Of course, I obliged, and he caught the frog. (I then threw out the spatula.)
That's it from here.
Next Up: Another trip to Ohio, but we'll get to see lots of family and maybe Hayden will get to jump in a pile of leaves for the first time in his life!
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